Understanding the Narrative Before Changing It
At the heart of FemRise is a commitment to evidence. Before training youth workers, before designing campaigns, before taking any action - we needed to understand what we were up against. What stories are media actually telling about women, feminism, and gender? Where do they come from? Who do they serve? And how are young people engaging with them?
To answer these questions, we conducted a comprehensive research process across all six partner countries, resulting in a comparative report and 6 national reports available on this page.
The Research
Our research examined gender representations and feminist narratives in traditional and digital media across Romania, Portugal, Lebanon, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan. In each country, researchers identified six key media platforms - selected for their reach, influence, frequency of gender-related content, and youth engagement - and analyzed a total of 518 media samples. The analysis combined quantitative data with qualitative findings, looking at how women are portrayed, which narratives dominate, where alternative feminist voices are present, and what barriers stand in the way of change.
Among the key themes explored: the persistence of stereotypical portrayals that confine women to domestic and caregiving roles; the normalization of coercive control in romantic relationships; the objectification of women's bodies across advertising and entertainment; the way feminist movements are framed (and often distorted) in news coverage; and the growing but contested space that social media offers for counter-narratives and women's own voices.
The research also examined how young people in each country interact with these narratives (as consumers, critics, and creators) and what that means for the design of youth-focused interventions.
Publications
National Research Reports
Each partner organization conducted a national study using a shared regional monitoring framework, allowing for comparability while capturing country-specific dynamics.
The six national reports - from Romania, Portugal, Lebanon, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan - are available for download below.
Comparative Study: Feminist Narratives & Gender Representation in Media and Popular CultureA Comparative Study Across Six Countries Published by MAAT for Peace, Development and Human Rights, 2026, with the support of the European Commission.
This report synthesizes findings from all six national studies into a comparative analysis. It maps dominant narratives and stereotypes, identifies alternative feminist voices, examines the role media plays in shaping - and sometimes resisting - gender equality, and offers concrete recommendations for youth workers, educators, advocates, and policymakers.
All FemRise research is open access. You are welcome to use and share it, with attribution to the project and its partners.
